Truth and Argument Part 2: The Public Sphere

Truth and Argument Part 2: The Public Sphere.
The idea that argument is the best method of finding and convincing others of the truth is the basis of our public institutions. In the legal system a lawyer is nothing else if not a professional arguer. In politics a political campaign hosts debates and the campaigns in general could are an extended argument to determine who and what should be in our government.
I have heard general public discussion over what is right, what is wrong and over policy referred to as ‘the conversation’. This is broader than any issue, specific political campaign or court decision. It is almost universally accepted that this generally leads, over time, to the correct policy and viewpoint i.e. the consensus is correct and tends to become more correct over time. It troubles this basic premise is mostly unexamined.
But first let us consider an important aspect of debate that often determines who/what wins the debate. That is the medium in which the debate is conducted. Newspapers, radio and TV each were in their successive turn the dominant medium of the conversation. Men such as FDR, Kennedy and Reagan had enormous political power and influence because they had mastered the common medium of their time to a much greater degree than their opponents.
The medium of TV requires that one look good in front of the camera, manipulate images for public consumption, and that one has catchy sound bites that can be replayed when the news summarizes arguments for its viewers. If your argument cannot be reduced into a simple and powerful phrase, than it cannot become the ‘truth’ of the public sphere. In the newspaper age, however, more complex arguments were required.
An example of this is the effect that television media had on public perceptions of war. Casualties had to reach huge proportions in the newspaper age before protests would become widespread such as in Civil War New York. The public was only mildly concerned with casualties in World War I or in the Philippines adventure. Contrast that with the widespread protests at the fairly light number of casualties in Vietnam. The difference was TV. TV made it easier to follow the news, and presented death, blood and suffering in your living room. See the different versions of ‘truth’ that the conversation produced when the medium was changed. Which POV then is more correct?
Some arguments, by their very nature are more persuasive than others for reasons discussed in part 1. Arguments that are more persuasive will be propagated. If the argument also persuades to pass itself on (i.e. viral) propagation accelerates. These arguments then can be successful even in a community of interested, smart, truth seeking individuals regardless of their verity. Then add people who are manipulating public opinions as self appointed crusades and you can see that the consensus is likely to be skewed away from the truth in those directions. Caveat Auditor!



What effect does the medium of the internet have on the conversation?